Experts: Farming Not Getting Safer

Monday, November 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) â€” On a cold, late-November day in 1990, Jeff Malm was digging post holes on his farm when his coat sleeve became entangled in the machinery. In an instant, his left arm dangled by a few tendons below the elbow, and his spinal cord was bruised.

Malm, 45, of Kulm, N.D., now has use of both arms and hands but must use a wheelchair and is considered a quadriplegic.

``I considered myself to be somewhat safe. But you still get used to doing things that aren't safe,'' he said. ``You've done it so many times you don't think, 'This might be dangerous.'''

Despite advances in equipment and safety education campaigns, farming does not appear to be any safer than it was a decade ago, officials say. Farmers still get caught in augers, which transfer grain to bins, still get pinned under heavy equipment that tips over and still fall into grain bins and suffocate.

Farming ranks ``a close second'' to mining as the most dangerous occupation, said Sam Steele, director of the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety, a division of the National Safety Council.

In most agricultural states, farmers are five times more likely be killed in a work-related accident than people in most other industries, he said.

Some insurance companies are considering offering farmers price incentives on their policies if they have their farm certified as ``safe,'' Steele said.

``I think that's the wave of the future,'' he said. ``I think there's going to be a lot of insurance companies in the next five years that will look at that as a way to reduce claims.''

Gauging trends is difficult, said George Maher, agricultural safety specialist with the North Dakota State University Extension Service. Many farmers treat injuries at home and go right back to work without reporting them, he said.

Steele said farmers age 55 and older are a high-risk group.

``A lot has to do with them operating older tractors that are not protected (with safety measures); a lot has to do with them slowing down, the aging characteristics,'' he said.

In North Dakota, the average age of farmers is 51.4, according to the 1997 Census of Agriculture. That's up from 50 in 1992, and 48.3 in 1987.

``We're going to have to change our focus on farm safety to meet this change in our farming population,'' Maher said.

He acknowledged that getting older farmers to change their ways is difficult. Officials who work to improve farm safety have been relying on educating young people, and hoping the message will rub off on parents and grandparents, he said.

A poor farm economy has forced many farmers to forgo newer, safer machinery and buy their needed equipment ``as is'' at auctions, Maher said. The stress of surviving through lean times also puts safety issues further back in many farmers' minds, he said.

In North Dakota, officials of Nodak Mutual Insurance, affiliated with the Farm Bureau, and Farmers Union Insurance both said premium incentives for ``certified safe'' farms are being discussed but not yet aggressively pursued.

Farmers Union Insurance is trying to do more to prevent accidents, starting a risk-management program for farmers, said Gary Geiszler, marketing manager.

The Farm Bureau is trying to increase awareness of safety issues through several programs aimed at young people, said safety coordinator Gail Scherweit.